In the Long Run

We’ve all heard the adage, “It is better to give than to receive.” Does it work? Do we really feel better when we’re giving than receiving? What more appropriate time than the Christmas season to put this advice to the test?

Try it and see! During the next month, as we start each day, let us sincerely reflect and meditate on the following question: Who needs my help today? We will surely be inspired with ways we can give service to others. Some opportunities will be as small as giving someone a smile, a compliment, or a hug. Other opportunities may require much more effort and time, such as shoveling a neighbor’s driveway, or babysitting a friend’s children while she shops.

We will quickly begin to recognize and act upon possibilities that we once never would have noticed, or, if we had recognized them, never thought seriously about pursuing them. We may be surprised at the simplicity and ease of many acts of service, and on the other hand, we may be taken aback at the difficulty of some of the chances to help that present themselves to us. But no matter what the service, if we take the time to render it with sincere kindness and love, our joy will be as sweet and precious to us as the gift is to the recipient.

Everyone has times of helplessness, loneliness, and even hopelessness. May we take the challenge this season to give service, thereby providing relief to others from crippling feelings and attitudes, and quite possibly seeing a reversal of any such negative situations in our own lives, as well. In doing so, we will definitely know the meaning of Acts 20:35: “I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

Try it, and have a merry Christmas!

Posted by Cyppy at 5:12 PM